By GARY MARX
Chicago Tribune

BEJUCO, Cuba -- Cattle graze along the vast grasslands and gentle hills of eastern Cuba, but Giorgina Brooks cannot remember the last time she had a good steak.

"It's been years and years," said Brooks, 47, as she gazed at a few nearby cattle munching on grass.

Faced with U.S. trade sanctions, questionable economic policies, drought and rustling, Cuba's once-large cattle herd has been hit hard over the years, leaving many Cubans longing for beef.

The situation also has forced Cuban officials to take tough measures to protect cattle even as the government turns to the United States for help in restocking its herd.

In communist Cuba, only the state is allowed to slaughter cattle and sell the meat. A citizen who kills a cow -- even if he raises it himself -- can get a 10-year prison sentence. Anyone who transports or sells a poached animal can get locked up for eight years.

"My brother-in-law got a 12-year prison sentence for killing 12 cows," said an accountant who lives in the cattle-raising region.

But it's not unheard of for Cubans to sneak into a pasture at night and butcher a cow on the spot. Residents have been known to descend on a cow struck by lightning, carving it up in minutes even though the meat often is charred and they risk a fine if caught by police.

The same thing can happen if a cow is hit by a car or dies of illness or malnutrition, in giving birth or of old age, even though residents admit the law requires them to leave the dead animal alone and notify local officials.

Ulises Cutino, a 32-year-old who works at a large dairy farm, recounted how scores of people scrambled to a nearby railway with knives and machetes when word spread that more than a dozen cattle had been struck by a passing train.

"If the authorities don't come fast, people take it away," said Manuel Salazar, who tends cattle in eastern Cuba.

Pedro Alvarez, a Cuban trade official, acknowledged a shortage of beef but said there is no hunger in Cuba because citizens receive government-subsidized food, including bread, rice and chicken.

Alvarez said the government has sought to increase beef and dairy production through the recent purchase of 913 U.S. cattle. He said Cuba could buy up to 100,000 head of cattle from the U.S. -- at an estimated cost of $150 million -- if trade sanctions against the island are dropped.

While the 4-decade-old U.S. economic embargo prohibits most American trade with the island, it allows Cuba to make cash purchases of food and agricultural products. Alvarez argued that the embargo increases the cost of all imports and represents a huge drag on the Cuban economy.

But John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, said he doubts the Cubans could afford such a large purchase of cattle even without U.S. trade sanctions as long as Cuba fails to implement economic reforms.

"People should stop dreaming and deal with reality," Kavulich said.

Cubans have not always been hard up for beef. Before the 1959 revolution, Cuba was said to have as many cattle as people -- about 5 million -- and one of the region's highest per-capita consumptions of beef, experts said.

But Fidel Castro's revolutionary government nationalized the large land holdings of U.S. and other ranchers and slaughtered many of the cattle to make up for falling food production in other areas.

The beef industry never recovered, but dairy herds were built back up through huge investments and imported animal feed, experts said. Years later, when the Soviet Union collapsed and ended $5 billion in annual subsidies, Cuba lacked the money to import feed, and much of the dairy herd also was lost.

Today beef is found almost exclusively in state-run restaurants catering to tourists and dollar-only markets beyond the reach of most citizens.

The problems have been exacerbated by severe droughts and by what some experts describe as Cuba's ill-fated attempts to breed a superbovine that could thrive in a tropical climate.

One product of that effort was a single prodigious milk-producing cow. During one 24-hour period in 1982, the cow produced 241 pounds of milk, more than four times a typical cow's production.

But the Cubans never could successfully breed the cow, which died several years later and now stands stuffed in a glass case in the lobby of cattle institute about 15 miles outside Havana.

The government today imports huge quantities of milk from New Zealand, Canada and other countries and distributes it at subsidized prices for infants, children up to age 7, the elderly and the infirm.

Most everyone else has to purchase powdered milk on the black market for $1 a pound. Cubans earn an average of about $10 a month.

At the same time, per-capita beef and veal consumption in Cuba has fallen from about 3.7 pounds per month in 1961 to just over 1.2 pounds per month in 2001, according to the United Nations. That compares with about 8 pounds of beef and veal per month consumed by the average American.

"It's a tremendous drop," said James Ross, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Florida. "The bottom line is that the Cuban administration has adopted policies that do not favor cattle production."

As part of its subsidized food program, the Cuban government periodically provides residents a small amount of ground meat mixed with soy. At times, Cubans also receive a 4-ounce chunk of meat, though some complain the subsidized beef is a tough chew.

"It's full of gristle," said one Havana resident. "You have to pound it with a hammer and put it in a steam-cooker to make it soft enough to eat."

Cubans have made up for the beef shortage by eating more pork and chicken, which Alvarez said is cheaper to produce than beef. In fact, roasted pig is a favorite dish of many.

But others say they prefer a juicy steak.